Cons: No replacable/plugable cable; require amp; a little low in the mids

I've spent most of my life with open type cans. A year ago, after moving into an apartment, we decided to make some changes which necessitated me to get closed headphones. This way I would not disturb my wife and vice versa, I wouldn't be disturbed by the noise of others.

For various reasons - price being one of them (no more than $200) - I chose the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm.

The first impression is that they are extremely comfortable to wear, even for someone with glasses. I can sit and enjoy music or movies for hours and hours without the headphones bothering me. These are definitely the most comfortable cans I ever wore. Another bonus of the spacious over-the-ear design is that they always sit properly and don't block high frequencies etc., something I noticed when comparing them to the AKG K 142 HD on-ear headphones which require careful positioning else the highs get blocked.

Soundwise the DT 770 Pro aren't flat - both bass and treble are a little enhanced, and the midrange a little recessed. This usually doesn't bother me, as the headphones are very musical. No matter what I play, the DT 770 reproduce the music, and not just a summary of sounds. Complex passages of classical music are clearly resolved with no effort. The sound stage is quite wide, considering the closed design.

With modern music the DT 770 are capable of delivering a nice punch in the bass and sweet highs without sounding harsh, even at concert volume levels.

Jazz tracks such as Lew Tabackins "Tenority" are played with authority, so is Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (the remastered "Gold" CD).

Is the DT 770 Pro perfect? No! It's recessed mids are clearly noticeable. But the DT 770 has a musical signature that makes it worth auditioning.

I'm also using the DT 770 in my home theatre where it's driven by an Audiolab 8000A. The closed design and great audio quality lets me immerse into the movies, without getting on the nerves of my neighbours.

Would I recommend the DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm? For use in a system with a headphone amp - yes!

2 Comments:

I couldn't agree more. Just two things: yes, the mids are a bit less noticeable than the rest, a bit 'recessed', with a bit less volume so you won't understand so much about the music that lives there if that music has also a lot of things going up and down in the frequency range... The 'details' are there but you will have to do some extra effort to hear that part of the music, and, sometimes, that task could 'interfere' a bit. Why? because the upper bass and low mids are good. The sort of male chorus voices and certain instruments that lives there. They are portrayed in a very nice way. The enviroment for that sounds to exist is very well controlled. Everything is very very quiet, the music can swing in power and volume effortlessly and nothing could disturb you from the music meaning, presented as a whole thing, even with the not so evenly portrayed high mids and low treble, i.e., female voices and children chorus. Violins and othe instruments with higher pitch... is a different matter. You see, the problem nowadays is the tricks in the mastering process and the 'taste' of the modern public. A lot of music is 'toasted' and, sadly, you will hear clearly all this stuff with the Beyer. It could display complex passages, it could show you the music in a high expressive way but it will also recover some of the nastiness.

the trick: mid-low volume or under-powered amplifier for similar effect. You will lose some details of the music but also all of the nastiness of the recording. Attached directly to a laptop it could render music so beautyfully it could harm. Attached to neutral-high powered amplifiers... and a neutral fine source... you will have to expect some problems and deal with them.

DVD-Audio or SACD with their boombastick spectacular sound, or heavily processed signal... are also very problematic. Expect to be more picky.

For lovers of very expressive music that plays a lot with pianos and fortissimos, for layers of details in distance and volume, this is a good tool. The quiet environment and the easyness for the sounds that live in the range where the structure of the music is are the culprit of the good music the Beyer delivers. Again, certain softiness in the treble from your selection of material to be played are highly recommended. Even if they portrait the treble in a very clear and powerful way it doesn't means they offer the bleached sound, the easy-effortlessly-but-compressed, clear as a swiss lake sound of current trends in audio. They are old style, old brand, old in the market headphones. They don't do tricks or slice the music or render the notes individually in the space for you to feel things that are not music. They respect the music but also deal with the low level signal and every turn in the master recording process. So, choose carefully your program or choose carefully what you want to obtain from them. They will not change for you.